KING TUTANKHAMON

King Tutankhamen was eight or nine years old when he became pharaoh he reigned for approximately 9 years.The tomb of Tutankhamen located in the Valley of the Kings K.V (62).

It was discovered by the English man Hayward Carter with the co-operation of his Friend lord Carnavon  almost  intact  & in a good condition .The most complete ancient Egyptian tomb ever found. Tutankhamen began his reign at such an early age, his vizier and eventual successor (Ay) was probably making most Of the important political decisions during the same time. Tutankhamen's  Parentage is uncertain. An inscription  was found in (El Amrna ) his fathers capital calls him a king's son, but the name of the son wasn't mentioned . Later research claimed that he may have been a son of Amenhotep III, although not by Queen Tiye At present, the most common hypothesis holds that Tutankhamen was the son  of Akhenaton (Amenhotep IV) and his minor wife keya. Queen Kiya's title was "Greatly Beloved Wife of Akhenaton" so it is possible that she could have born him an heritage for the throne .

Tutankhamen was married to Ankhesenpaaten (possibly his half-sister, since Ankhesenpaaten is recorded as one of the  daughters of Akhenaton and Nefertiti),  Tutankhamen's wife gave birth 2 children, both girls, whose mummies were discovered in Tutankhamen's tomb they both died as babies, and medical evidence suggests they may have been stillborn. DNA testing began in August 2008 on the two fetuses to determine whether they were indeed his children or not.

X-rays of Tutankhamen's skull. The medical instrument points to the location of the possible injury at the base of his skull The cause of Tutankhamen's Death is unclear, and is still the root of much

speculation. In early 2005 the Results of a set of CT scans on the mummy were released. The body originally was inspected by Howard Carter's team in the early 1920.

Although they were  interested in recovering the jewelry and amulets from The body. To remove these objects from the body, which often were stuck Fast by the hardened embalming resins used, Carter's team cut up the Mummy into various pieces: the arms and legs were detached, the torso cut in half and the head was severed. Hot knives were used to remove it from the golden mask to which it was cemented by resin. Since 1926The mummy has been X-rayed three times: first in 1968 by a group from the University of Liverpool led by Dr. R. G. Harrison, then in 1978 by a group from the University of Michigan, and finally in 2005 a team of Egyptian scientists led by Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, who conducted a CT scan on the mummy. X-Rays of Tutankhamen's mummy, taken in 1968, revealed a dense spot at the lower back of the skull interpreted as a subdural hematoma. Such an Injury could have been the result of an accident, but it also had been suggested that the young pharaoh was murdered. A trauma specialist from Long Island University at C. W. Post Campus insisted that this injury could not have been from a natural cause.

The specialist stated that the blow was to a protected area at the back of the head which is not easily injured in an accident.

 who was responsible for the death...? include Tutankhamen's immediate successor Ay The high priest during the time of king Tutankhamen. Calcification within the supposed injury indicates Tutankhamen lived for a fairly extensive period of time (on the order of several months) after the Injury was inflicted. A small, loose, sliver of bone was discovered within the upper cranial cavity, which was discovered from the same X-ray analysis. In fact, since Tutankhamen's brain was removed post mortem in the mummification process, and considerable quantities of now-hardened resin introduced into the skull on at least two separate occasions after that, had the fragment resulted from a pre-mortem injury, some scholars, including the 2005 CT scan team, say it almost certainly would not still be loose in the cranial cavity.

But other scientists suggested, that the loose sliver of bone was loosened by the embalmers during mummification, but it had been broken before. A blow to the back of the head (from a fall or an actual blow), caused the brain to move forward, hitting the front of the skull, breaking small pieces of the bone right above the eyes. On March 8, 2005, Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass revealed the results of a CT scan performed on the pharaoh's mummy. The scan uncovered no evidence of a blow to the back of the head and no evidence suggesting foul play. There was a hole in the head, but it appeared to have been drilled, presumably by embalmers.

A fracture to Tutankhamun's left thighbone was interpreted as evidence that the pharaoh badly broke his leg shortly before he died and his leg became severely infected; however, members of the Egyptian-led research team recognized, as a less likely possibility, that the fracture was caused by the embalmers. Altogether 1,700 images were produced of Tutankhamen's mummy during the 15-minute CT scan. Much was learned about the young king's life. His age at death was estimated at nineteen years, based on physical developments that set upper and lower limits to his age. The king had been in general good health and there were no signs of any major infectious disease or malnutrition during his childhood.

He was slight of build, and was roughly 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) tall. He had large front incisor teeth and the overbite characteristic of the Thutmosid royal line to which he belonged. He also had a pronounced dolichocephalism (elongated) skull, although it was within normal bounds and highly unlikely to have been pathological. Given the fact that many of the royal depictions of Akhenaten (possibly his father, certainly a relative), often featured such an elongated head, it is likely an exaggeration of a family trait, rather than a distinct
abnormality. The research also showed that the pharaoh had "a slightly cleft palate"

A slight bend to his spine also was found, but the scientists agreed that there was no associated evidence to suggest that it was
pathological in nature, and that it was much more likely to have been caused by the embalming process. This ended speculation based on the previous X-rays that Tutankhamun had suffered from scoliosis. (However, it was subsequently noted by Dr. Zahi Hawass that the mummy found in KV55, provisionally identified as Tutankhamun's father, exhibited several similarities to that of Tutankhamun a cleft palate, a
dolichocephalism skull and slight scoliosis (also found on one of her stillborns), the first and third elements being a common defect on people suffering from Klippel-Feil syndrome, which incapacitated him and might have played a role in his accidental death.)

The 2005 conclusion by a team of Egyptian scientists, based on the CT scan findings, is that Tutankhamen died of gangrene after breaking his leg. After consultations with Italian and Swiss experts, the Egyptian scientists found that the fracture in Tutankhamen's left leg most likely occurred only days before his death, which had then become gangrenous and led directly to his death. The fracture in their opinion was not sustained during the mummification process or as a result of some damage to the mummy as claimed by Howard Carter. The Egyptian scientists also have found no evidence that he had been struck on the head and no other indication that he was murdered, as had been speculated previously. Further investigation of the fracture led to the conclusion that it was severe, most likely caused by a fall from some height possibly a chariot riding accident due to the absence of pelvis injuries and may have been fatal within hours

Despite the relatively poor condition of the mummy, the Egyptian team found evidence that great care had been given to the body of Tutankhamen during the embalming process. They found five distinct embalming

materials, which were applied to the body at various stages of the mummification process. This counters previous assertions that the king s body had been prepared carelessly and in a hurry. In November 2006, at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, Egyptian radiologists stated that CT images and scans of the king's mummy revealed Tutankhamen's height to be 180 centimeters or 5 feet 11 inches tall, a revision upward from the earlier estimates. Michael R. King continues to dispute these findings, claiming that the king was murdered. He argues that the loose sliver of bone was loosened by the embalmers during mummification, but that it had been broken before. He argues that a blow to the back of the head (from a fall or an actual blow) may have caused the brain to move forward, hitting the front of the skull, breaking small pieces of the bone right above the eyes.

Discovery of KV62 Tutankhamen seems to have faded from public consciousness in Ancient Egypt within a short time after his death, and he remained virtually unknown until the early twentieth century. His tomb was robbed at least twice in antiquity, but based on the items taken (including perishable oils and perfumes) and the evidence of restoration of the tomb after the intrusions, it seems clear that these robberies took place within several months at most of the initial burial. Eventually the location of the tomb was lost because it had come to be buried by stone chips from subsequent tombs, either dumped there or washed there by floods. In the years that followed, some huts for workers were built over the tomb entrance, clearly not knowing what lay beneath. When at the end of the twentieth dynasty the Valley of the Kings burials were systematically dismantled, the burial of Tutankhamen was overlooked, presumably because knowledge of it had been lost and his name may have been forgotten.

For many years, rumors of a "Curse of the Pharaohs" (probably fuelled by newspapers seeking sales at the
time of the discovery) persisted, emphasizing the early death of some of those who had first entered the
tomb. However, a recent study of journals and death records indicates no statistical difference between the
age of death of those who entered the tomb and those on the expedition who did not. Indeed, most lived
past seventy.

 See also  www.king-tut.org.uk